Institute of Social Ecology

Our aim is to describe the interaction between social and natural systems in scientifically sound theoretical and methodological terms, viewing them as co-evolutionary.

The concepts of social metabolism and the colonisation of natural systems form the basis of our socio-ecological theory. Drawing from diverse scientific traditions, including biology, sociology, economics, technical sciences, history, geography, and cultural anthropology, these concepts offer a coherent perspective on the society-nature relationship.

This perspective guides our conceptual and practical approach to developing information systems for the environmental consequences of human activity ("pressures on the environment"). It also orients us in our research on ecological and socio-economic aspects of sustainable development at the local, national and global levels.

Our methodological approach encompasses material and energy flow analysis (MFA and EFA), geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing methods, systemic, actor-oriented and organizational analyses, and the utilisation of historical sources. We increasingly use modelling techniques for data simulation, synthetic presentation of results, and as a basis for scenarios. Our culture of stable interdisciplinary cooperation and intensive teamwork enables us to utilise this range of methods.